Introduction

In 1987, people of Belau sued their president and their government over unconstitutional efforts used to ensure approval of US military plans. The plaintiffs, twenty-eight women, immediately became targets of government-endorsed intimidation and violence. This book explores gender and politics in the context of Belau's current political relationship with the United States in ways that create alternatives to the objectification of "informants" and "cultures" that so many anthropological representations contain. It places Belau by summarizing Belau's colonial history, the US administration of Micronesia and also Belau, and US military priorities in Belau. The book addresses how conversations and dialogues concerning one particular family's experiences and histories can contribute to understanding complex patterns of political activity in Belau, conceptualizations of and possible experiments in the representation of power itself, and boundaries defining the categories of "women" and "politics" that continuously shift in the context of multifaceted relations.